


Bor'assan

by awesomonster



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-02
Updated: 2015-07-02
Packaged: 2018-04-07 07:06:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4254012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awesomonster/pseuds/awesomonster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an attempt to find out more about Melowyn's backstory, Varric finds out he bit off more than he can chew. This really isn't anything new to him, though he probably would never admit it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bor'assan

"Is this for a book or just personal interest?" Melowyn leaned forward onto the table, a wide grin on her face. With both hands, she tilted her mug towards her, eying the level of ale she had remaining.

"It can be both, can't it?" Came Varric's somewhat defensive reply. "People are going to want to know everything about you, Inquisitor. Wouldn't you rather the information come directly from you?" As he answered her, she waved at the bartender, silently requesting a refill. "Rumor mills can be nasty things, after all."

"I don't mind telling you, Varric, I was just curious!" She laughed, reaching over to give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "I never knew my father, but I'm happy to tell you anything you want to know about my mother. Though I'm not sure you'll like what I have to tell you. If you think my life is hard to believe, my mother is ten times worse."

"Well, lets start simply, then. What was her name?" A waitress brought them both a fresh mug of ale, sweeping away their empties with a smile and a nod. Melowyn caressed the new mug with her thumb as she considered her answer.

"Everyone called her Bor'assan, but it always felt more like a title than a name?" She shrugged, giving him a helpless look in response to his disbelieving one. "It means 'The Bow' in Elvhen. She was a hunter, and she DID use a bow, but I'm pretty sure that it wasn't as simple as that. If she had an actual name, I never knew it." Varric couldn't help but laugh.

"Nothing is easy with you, is it? Of COURSE your mother doesn't have a name. Just a mysterious title. Ok, then. What's she like? Do you get along with her?" He settled back in his seat, taking a long pull from his ale, ready for anything. Whatever her answer, it was sure to be good material.

A sad smile had settled on her face. "She was amazing," She said fondly, her voice distant, "Everyone always thought she was mad, but she wasn't. She just..." She furrowed her brow and pursed her lips, trying to find the right words. Her hands gripped the mug, thumbs caressing the outside of the rim absentmindedly. "She just saw more than most people do... She was sharp and bold and harsh and never really cared what people thought of her. She always taught me to never call humans 'shems'. She'd say 'They deserve their anger, but you don't need to hold onto it'." A soft laugh escaped her. "I never understood what she meant, but I still don't use the word. And she'd disappear for weeks at a time, but it never really bothered me. It'd be like... getting upset at a flower for blooming? It was just her nature..." Her rambling trailed off and she dropped her gaze down to her hands, a sad look in her eyes. "I loved her more than anything in this world and I still miss her a great deal."

"She wasn't a mage, then? Like you?" As much as he wanted to know, he knew better than to ask about what had happened to make her a 'was' rather than an 'is'. She straightened her shoulders and shook her head, the gesture an answer for him as much as it was trying to shake off a grief that she clearly still bore.

"No, not really. She had a special sight, but I don't think she was able to do actual magic." She paused, looking thoughtful. "I think my father might've been one, though? Any time I asked her about him, she insisted it didn't matter WHO he was, but I always had a feeling that he was."

"The shadows spoke to her, swirled, sang, insisted," The quiet, murmuring voice floated up from behind them, causing them to both turn towards its source," She knew he could help her. 'A strong arrow for my bow'." Cole took a seat at the table next to Melowyn and added in an awed voice, "I can't tell if its real."

"I'm not sure she could, either," Melowyn comforted the confused boy with a smirk, "But she always listened to them, anyway. If she didn't, I don't think she would've ever had a child. I suppose I should be grateful." Varric looked between the two, unable to decide if he wanted to ask them to elaborate or not.

"I'm beginning to understand you just that little bit more, Inquisitor," He said with a chuckle, shaking his head. "But I'm starting to think your parentage is one thing I'll let the rumor mill have. Nothing they come up with could possibly be any weirder than the truth." He drained the rest of his ale and rose to his feet. "At least you're consistent."

Melowyn gave him a fond half-grin. "You're not even going to ask how she died?" She asked with surprising levity despite the sadness in her eyes, "I would've expected you to be curious."

"I didn't want to pry," He admitted, "Besides, I'm not sure I can handle the answer. Even I have my limits on how much weirdness I can take."

"She was hunting a herd of harts," Cole's quiet voice said before Melowyn could respond, "Quiet, creeping, a clear shot, but then a bolt of pain, a fire in her leg, too hot too walk, too far from home..." He leaned forward, hands twisted around themselves. "It was not quick. I am sorry."

"It was a... spider bite," She elaborated for Varric's benefit, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat before continuing, "She was usually so surefooted, but she must've stepped in a widow's web accidentally. It would've been completely curable but because of her habit of disappearing, nobody was alarmed when she didn't return right away. The other hunters found her a few days later, far too late to do anything about it."

Varric grimaced, immediately regretting his flippancy. "Shit. I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't be," She cut off his apology, flashing him a reassuring smile, "I didn't tell you to make you feel bad. I just wanted to you know that not EVERYTHING in my life is strange." She angled her head, looking off in thought momentarily. "Sometimes they're just.. mundane."

"I have a hard time believing that anything about you is mundane, Inquisitor," He replied with a short laugh. "How old were you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I was..." She paused to count on her fingers, "13? No, 14. It was the year before I received my vallaslin."

He fiddled with his empty mug for want of something to do with his hands, at a loss for words. This was an unusual feeling for him and he hated it, so he tried to change the subject. "So... Any other family? Siblings, grandparents?" He couldn't help but feel mildly relieved when she shook her head.

"No, my mother wasn't originally from Clan Lavellan, so I'm not related to anyone there, though they've always treated me as family." She paused briefly, her focus turning inward and a small, wistful smile playing on her lips. "There are a few I'm very close to, though I wouldn't say we had a sibling relationship. Quite the opposite, in fact..." This prompted a short, awkward laugh from Varric.

"That's more than enough information, Inquisitor," He brought his hands up in a defensive gesture, accompanied by that guarded chuckle of his that said he wasn't comfortable, "You tell anyone that sort of thing, Val Royeaux will be overflowing with even more smutty books written about you!"

Melowyn gave him a playful pout. "Aww, but I LOVE those smutty books written about me. Did you see the one about us?" Her pout turned to a devilish grin, her eyebrows raising. "It's called 'The Leaf And The Stone' and has at least two chapters about your chest hair alone!"

"Two chapters, eh?" He was almost impressed before he remembered to be offended. "No, wait, I don't want to know!"

"There's an entire part where I fight Bianca over you, except the author had to make it up, so Bianca is a 7 foot tall Qunari woman," The more she talked, the louder her voice got, trying to break through his defenses, "We have a dual before deciding to share you and then it gets VERY fun from there!" She would've continued but her laughter was uncontrollable. All she was able to add was, "It's one of my favorites!"

"I'm going to remember this when I'm having trouble seeing you as anything but the Inquisitor or the Herald, you know," In spite of his tone, he had a fond grin on his face. "I'll have to remember to include this in my book about you. Maybe it'll make it more believable. 'The Inquisitor was a lot of things, but before anything else, she was a jackass.'"

She returned his grin, leaning forward on the table and propping her chin in her hand. "If you don't include it, I'll be very disappointed. A dual or two wouldn't hurt either..."

"I'll see what I can do, Inquisitor, but I'm not promising anything. It's one story I DON'T have to spice up." He began to turn to leave, but paused. "Hey, you alright, Stormy?" The playful bluster was gone, leaving only genuine concern. "I didn't mean to upset you."

Her response was another warm smile. "You didn't, Varric. It's... nice to talk about her."

"Even the sad parts?"

She let out a soft laugh. "Even the sad parts." He gave her a crooked half-smile and strode out of the tavern, secretly lost in thought figuring out whether he could put all of this in his book or not. Once he was gone, Melowyn turned her attention back to Cole, uncertainty playing on her face. She realized she'd been holding her breath and released it slowly before asking him, "What... else do you see about my mother?"

The boy was quiet for a moment, one leg swinging and knocking rhythmically against the leg of the chair. Finally he said, "T-too much. She's too bright, like you. There's too much fire in her face to see what she's thinking." He angled his head, though his eyes were still downcast, focusing on his twisting hands. "I can see that she loves you very much. That is... brighter than the bright, hotter than the fire."

She watched Cole in silence for a while, considering this. "You often talk like her, you know," She murmured, her voice wistful and soft.

"Yes. It comforts you. I hope it helps."

She leaned over and placed a hand on his, giving them a fond squeeze. "You do help, Cole, thank you."

He raised his face just enough to give her a small smile, the brim of his hat still covering his eyes. "I am glad."


End file.
